Actually it’s the perfect time.
Before the advent of tracking cookies, smart advertising and niche customer targeting – did you ever read about something and then seemingly see it everywhere for the next few days?
Of course now if you type “violin” into Amazon once, you will be bombarded by ads for violin lessons or new bows everywhere you go online for what seems like an eternity.
But the concept of the idea following you around until you act on it is a useful one.
One we haven’t been able to shake off is the idea that New Year is in the wrong place.
Hear us out.
The current calendar we use (January to December) has been around a while – since 45 BC – and was instigated at the command of Julius Caesar, hence it’s known as the Julian calendar.
So the start of the year happens literally in the middle of the bleak midwinter, when the days are the shortest, the weather is the coldest and even if you’re lucky, the first buds and shoots of Spring are eight weeks away at best.
This always struck us as an odd and arbitrary time to start afresh with fresh energy to tackle resolutions or to implement and stick to new routines.
Surely Spring would be a better time when it’s slightly warmer but there is more light and a change in the very atmosphere. A far more supportive environment for change and starting again – surrounded by baby birds and budding plants emerging from their rest for the first time.
A writer called Joseph Campbell said: “the goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.”
The idea of natural rhythms or a time for everything is well understood but is often forgotten.
During winter, these same rhythms tend towards rest and recuperation. Animals hibernate, plants go dormant, water itself freezes over and the pervading atmosphere of the season is one of quiet and stillness (apart from the forced jollity of New Year’s Eve).
It used to be a season of rest for humans too.
Before the Industrial Revolution, people were less active in winter. There was an understanding that there were seasons for hunting, planting and harvesting and a season when things were allowed to lay fallow.
There were seasons for outward effort and seasons for inward retraction and reflection.
This is why trying to make new plans and launch them at the wrong time shows why so many personal and professional resolutions fall down. They don’t have the natural support structures surrounding them nor greater reserves of physical and mental energy to bolster them when they need it.
The Spring equinox which usually happens in mid to late March is a far more logical and precipitous time to make and implement concrete plans and essential changes.
It’s the time when nature starts to gear up and get going for the next few months with the light bringing about the return of photosynthesis and kickstarting the various ecosystems that depend on this eternal cycle.
Accountants and other financial professions might well be nodding along in agreement at this because for them, April 1st represents the start of their professional year – the financial and accounting year.
So with this wealth of evidence and your own common experience of this time of year – maybe now is the time to start thinking about the necessary changes and choices you need to make for you and your company if you are to fully realise your potential in 2023.
As plants have to shed their old leaves before new, stronger ones can emerge, sometimes directors have to close a business that is not performing and relaunch a new one with the knowledge they’ve accumulated and the experience to avoid previous errors.
Another advantage of closing a company through a liquidation process is that any new one would start unburdened with existing debts.
In a Creditors Voluntary Liquidation (CVL) for instance, any unsecured debt is written off leaving directors free to move onto their next professional venture with a clean slate.
Chris Horner, Insolvency Director with BusinessRescueExpert said: “For the past 12 months and longer, CVLs and other forms of liquidation have been far and away the most commonly used processes.
“This shows that directors are being more proactive than they have for years in deciding that it’s easier, more efficient and less stressful to close a business this way than spend even more time and money struggling on.
“Yes, a lot of businesses can be made profitable again after an administration or a CVA and are absolutely the right choice depending on the circumstances but the long economic after effects of the pandemic have made it almost impossible for a lot of otherwise good firms to become viable again.
“Once a director understands the process and the benefits of liquidation they want to move on and see the process through as quickly as they can so they can start again sooner.”
If these ideas make sense to you or you recognise your own circumstances here then you should get in touch with us.
After a free initial consultation with one of our team of expert advisors, you will have a better understanding of the viable options facing your business and how you can begin to implement them, with our help if needed.
If you felt like you’d missed the chance to start afresh in 2023 – don’t worry – it’s actually the perfect time right now to make the right choices for you and your business and follow them through.